Laura took the kids to the pumpkin patch for playgroup. The kids had a great time (see Olivia's obvious joy ;)-) on the hayride. Connor seemed to enjoy himself and appears to have done all the choosing of the 3 pumpkins they brought home. Laura had a hilarious story about getting those pumpkins from the patch to the car. She said they had no carts so she had to try to carry 3 pumpkins (one very large) and 2 tired, cranky kids to the car! She said she would pick up the kids, put them down a few feet away then go back and get the pumpkins putting them down a few feet past the kids, go back for the kids and repeat the process. Finally a worker noticed her trouble and came to help. Oh, I can only imagine. Poor Laura- what a trooper! I just wish I could have come to help out (I was on bed rest)- and to have witnessed this eventful day.
Something Connor and Olivia both love is water. They had a great time playing in this baby pool we bought for Connor's birthday party. They just would play alongside each other- Olivia pouring water from one container to the other and Connor pouring water out of the pool. It started getting hot so we pulled the tent over for shade (left out from the previous night's "camp out" with daddy). So much fun!
Connor often talks about what he wants to be when he grows up. Lately he's said a teacher. He just loves his kindergarten teacher and will often come home and teach me a lesson he learned at school. A recent example is when he was learning to write his letters. His teacher obviously exaggerates all the wrong ways to make letters and asks the kids to find out what's wrong with the various ways she writes the letter. Connor will do this with me on a white board drawing the "high water", "highway" and "below water" guidelines for making each letter. Too bad I didn't take a picture of that but here is an example of him "helping" Olivia learn something.
Also please note the gorgeous flowers my parents and brothers sent me when I found out some bad news. They are so thoughtful and their support means so much to me! Thank you my dear family!!
One of Connor's favorite things to do lately has been to take "pirate walks". You dress up like pirates and search for letters A-Z on signs and so forth (see a previous post when my brother visited for another example).
Connor was so lucky to have his little cousin, Olivia, along for this adventure. My sister enjoyed taking them but, this time, Olivia wouldn't stay in the wagon for long. She got out and insisted on pulling for most of the walk! She is what my sister calls "freakishly strong". She is always picking up things that look to be way too heavy for her but she somehow manages. Wow, a miss universe in the making! ;)
Here is a small collection of the Connor's most recent pictures. If you'll notice, he's taken them according to their shapes- circles, triangles, rectangles, arches, etc. Very, uh, artistic! That's my boy. :)
Every week Connor learns a new color song in kindergarten. Here he is singing his heart out.
These are the words to these adorable songs:
BLUE: To the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”
B-L-U-E spells blue, B-L-U-E spells blue, hi-ho did you know B-L-U-E spells blue. The big sky is blue, the ocean is too. Hi-ho did you know B-L-U-E spells blue.
RED: To the tune of “Frere Jacque”
R-E-D red, R-E-D red, I can spell red, I can spell red. Fire trucks are red. STOP signs are red too, R-E-D, R-E-D.
GREEN: To the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N, I know how to spell green, G-R-E-E-N. Caterpillars are green and grasshoppers too. I know how to spell green G-R-E-E-N.
YELLOW: To the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow. Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow. Like the early morning sun when the day has just begun, Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow.
Daffodils and baby ducks are yellow. Lemonade and scrambled eggs are yellow. I like the smiley face that’s yellow, he’s such a HAPPY fellow. Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow.
PURPLE: To the tune of “Camptown Races”
P-U-R-P-L-E, Purple, purple, P-U-R-P-L-E, purple’s what that spells. Purple grapes on the vine; purple kool-aid’s fine. P-U-R-P-L-E, purple’s what that spells.
PINK: To the tune of “Jingle Bells”
Cotton candy, fat pink pigs, girls with socks and bows, P-I-N-K, P-I-N-K, that is how it goes. Bubble gum, valentines, these are all pink too. Pink icing and pink balloons, we can spell can’t you? PINK!
BROWN: To the tune of “BINGO”
There is a color we all know, can you guess what it is? B-R-O-W-N, B-R-O-W-N, B-R-O-W-N, that’s how we spell brown. Teddy bears and squirrels are brown; autumn leaves are too. Chocolate candy’s always brown, chocolate cake is always brown, chocolate milk is always brown. I like brown, don’t you? Yes!
BLACK: To the tune of “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain”
B-L-A-C-K spells black. B-L-A-C-K spells black. Flying bats are black, scary cats are black, jelly beans are black, I like black. B-L-A-C-K spells black; B-L-A-C-K spells black. Sunday shoes are black, Santa’s boots are black, B-L-A-C-K spells black.
WHITE: To the tune of “Little Brown Jug”
W-H-I-T-E that spells white, sing with me. Milk is white and so is glue, ghosts are white and they say BOO! W-H-I-T-E that spells white, sing with me. The clouds above, the snow below, Santa’s beard, Hohoho!
ORANGE: To the tune of “Mr. Blue” or “One little, two little, three little Indians”
O-R-A-N-G-E, O-R-A-N-G-E, O-R-A-N-G-E, orange is what that spells. Jack-o-lanterns are always orange, carrots are always orange, oranges are always orange. O-R-A-N-G-E.
GRAY: Connor’s song for GRAY (he invented this), to the tune of “Angels We Have Heard on High”
G-R-A-Y, G-R-A-Y, G-R-A-Y, fountains are gray. Metal’s gray, G-R-A-Y and that’s the end. G-R-A-Y!
Today I went in for my 11 week doctor's appointment. We were in for a surprise but first, I have to tell you about some of my pregnancy woes.
About 3 weeks ago now, my doctor put me on bedrest for some bleeding I was having. I got better but then last night it started again! I called him after hours and he prescribed something to stop it and put me on bedrest again. Ammon drove me to my appointment and I saw my doc first thing this morning. Thankfully, the babies were just fine. And we were even in for a little treat. The baby you see here on the bottom (left in the other picture above) was totally moving around. It was like he was so happy to see us, he was doing a dance! You can distinctly see his little leg sticking out to the side. So fun! The other one just laid there with his arms across his chest not moving. I guess the first one was such a scene-stealer that he didn't want to try to compete. ;) Both hearts beat very strongly and they look so BIG. They used to be these little beans and now you can see distinct body parts. Even though I keep referring to them as "him/his/he", we don't know what we're having yet. In the next few weeks, we should though, and much sooner than I thought. Usually it's at 20 weeks but my doc said anywhere from 14-16 weeks we can know. I really don't care what gender they are; I just hope they're healthy.
That's the title of Connor's favorite book right now. He first saw it in his kindergarten classroom. He came home and drew the book without the benefit of having the book- all from memory!!
I guess on that same vain, Connor and Ammon have been going on letter hunting walks dressed as pirates lately. So adorable! So, when Uncle Brian visited on Sunday, he wanted to take us all on one. We diligently acquiesced to the wishes of our captain and dressed up like pirates in search of hidden letters on signs, license plates and street signs on our walk. Connor was really cute when we grown-ups would find letters too quickly he would say "they're not clear." We didn't get what that meant at first but we soon caught on. Letter Q was by far the hardest letter to find. We had to resort to looking in someone's recycling box to find it!
On Labor Day, we headed over to our local Air and Space Museum. We were amazed at how big that place was! They have 75 acres of old planes on display and about 7 out buildings with equipment in them. It was very interactive for kids so Connor loved it. We had a cool day, which made it possible for us to last the whole day, despite Connor breaking his shoe, my pregnancy and not bringing quite enough food.. We'd definitely recommend it and will be going again, especially on a day the "Bone Yard" is open. That is at the local Air Force Base where they have thousands of planes in various stages of dismantling. Should be cool.
